All posts tagged Commercial Real Estate

Just months after an investment group led by private equity giant TPG acquired DTZ, the Chicago-based real-estate services firm is consolidating its German operations.

DTZ is discontinuing its leasing and investment-sales businesses in German markets other than Berlin, and focusing on valuation, property management and other services, company executives said. DTZ will continue to provide leasing and sales services in areas outside of Berlin through partnerships with other firms. Read More »

House of the Day: The owners combined two penthouse units in Denver, Colo., to create a posh full-floor apartment with urban flair.

Here is a look at real-estate news in Wednesday’s WSJ, including the Property Report:

Canadian Investor Bets on a Montreal Revival: As Canadian investors step up real-estate investment throughout the world, a company owned by one of Canada’s largest pension funds is looking to shake things up in this sleepy office market.

Deal of the Week: Office Is Showing Promise: The revival of construction on a 30-story mixed-use tower in downtown Portland, Ore., is more than just a feat for family-owned developer TMT Development Co. It is an indication that demand for new office space, which had been limited to the nation’s largest markets, is spreading to midsize cities.

For the first time since last summer, work for architects dipped in April, according to the American Institute of Architects’ Billings Index.

The index, which tracks changes in workloads by large architecture firms, registered a score of 48.6 in April—below 50 means work levels fell, while above 50 means they rose—its worst score since July 2012.

To be sure, one data point in one month is nothing to get too worked up about. Kermit Baker, chief economist at the AIA, said small declines during past spring seasons have proved fleeting, and there’s not yet reason to think this will last. “We continue to hope that this time is different and this little dip we’re seeing right now is going to be short-lived,” he said. Read More »

LNR Property LLC, the largest servicer of distressed loans in commercial mortgage-backed securities, on Tuesday took a new tack in defense of its methods to fix defaults on loans by increasing the transparency of practices often scorned by investors.

Tobin Cobb, LNR’s charismatic co-chief who helped lead Deutsche Bank’s commercial real estate group through the real estate boom, has been known to personally challenge analysts who publish notes questioning loan modifications by LNR. Now, with the firm up for sale and drawing bids of at least $1 billion, it is taking new pains to tell its side of the story.

LNR, which is engaged with more than $22 billion of distressed loans, and other “special servicers” have been criticized for going too easy on indebted borrowers or for conflicts of interest that undermine their job of representing debt holders when a loan goes into default.

A year ago, commercial real-estate executives were feeling better about the market. A recovery looked like it was on the horizon. And then things changed.

Now caution is back among those same executives, according to a new survey by KPMG LLP slated to be released Wednesday. Rather than growth, those executives are talking about cost-cutting and holding onto profits in the next two years. The survey, conducted in June with about 80 senior executives, found that a majority of industry leaders don’t expect a full economic recovery until 2014 — or later. Ouch. Read More »

The bulk of loans backing some of the most complex commercial mortgage-backed securities carry below-market interest rates that are buoying performance, but risks lurk when borrowers seek new financing, according to Deutsche Bank.

About 80% of loans in commercial real estate collateralized debt obligations, also known as CRE CDOs, carry floating interest rates that have been held low by their benchmarks in recent years, said Deutsche Bank analysts, led by Harris Trifon. Compared with a fixed-rate loan, debt expense for floating-rate loans has declined at a time when many properties have seen revenue drop.

“Here is a situation where loans which are inherently riskier are benefiting tremendously from the floating-rate component,” the analysts said in research note Wednesday. It’s “amazing” that the coupons are less than where a stable, average quality property could get financing today, they said. Read More »

Drop in Store Vacancies Signals Possible Mall Rebound: The rebounding economy is providing a slight boost to U.S. malls and shopping centers, which in the first quarter registered their first declines in vacancy in years. But analysts aren’t yet ready to declare a turnaround.

U.K. REIT Challenge: Debt: U.K. real estate investment trusts are in a bullish mood as they emerge from the biggest slowdown in the U.K.’s property market in decades.

Deal of the Week: Air-Base Deal Takes Off: Homeowners aren’t the only ones slashing prices to sell property these days. The U.S. Navy is taking a huge haircut to get rid of an obsolete air base near Boston.